Leslie West
Collection
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Collection is Leslie West's compilation of tracks recorded from his Blues Bureau years (a division of Shrapnel Records), and includes twelve tracks recorded from 1993 to 2006. West's tracks come from a number of blues CDs starting in 1993, such as "Blue Me", "Got Blooz?", "Dodgin' The Dirt" and "Live". Collection contains the kind of guttural vocals and soulful bluesy guitar playing that have established Leslie as one of the greatest talents in the history of rock and roll. True blues power trio that combine for a unique synergy that is seldom heard today. Blues, total running time, 56:58
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In Review |
'The Best Of The Blues'
Review Featured In The Northern Light, January, 2002
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| Blues | |
By: Lennart Hedenström
ary Moore the incredible guitarist born in Belfast Northern Ireland (who turns 50 in April!!) is yet again the subject of a compilation CD. Although Virgin dropped Gary Moore a few years ago they have been quite successful releasing "best of" CDs digging into the man`s back catalog. There have been "Out In The Fields - The Very Best" (1998) and "Blood Of Emeralds - The Very Best Part 2" (1999). Those two covered Moore`s hard rocking 80s material released on Virgin between 1982-1989. This time they have concentrated on Moore`s 90s blues CD; "Still Got The Blues" (1990, tracks 1-3, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 13-15), "After Hours" (1992, tracks 4-6 and 12), "Blues Alive" (1993, track 16)and "Blues For Greeny" (1995, tracks 6 and 17).
Initially the CD is released as a limited edition featuring a bonus CD with 14 extra tracks, all recorded live. The Swedish release, which is the one I have, also comes with a different cover and a great booklet put together by Swedish Moore aficionado Jorgen Holmstedt (just as was the case on the Swedish version of the two previous Virgin collections mentioned already). Holmstedt has been involved in picking the material on the CD as well as writing a background paragraph on each track as well as a nice bio on Moore (all in Swedish). It`s always nice when the record companies put a little effort into making these compilations more interesting.
The diehard Moore fans will certainly grumble that there are no previously unreleased tracks on this 2 CD set. Still, I would assume that the more casual fans lack at least some of these tracks as they are spread out as bonus tracks on several CD singles from the "Still Got The Blues" and "After Hours" CDs. The recording of "The Thrill Is Gone" has only been released on CD in France (although it can be found on the "Live Blues" video released in 1993.
There is great value for money here, with 31 tracks in total. It`s interesting to take the ride through Moore`s 90s and hear him develop his blues approach. "Still Got The Blues" spawned the major hit single with the same name. The track turns up as number 3 (I would have guessed they would open with it). Moore shines with his melodic blues playing right there. It`s apparent that Moore still had a lot more fire in his playing at the time than most "true" blues players. He was getting a lot of criticism at the time from blues purists that he was too much rock and not a real blues man. Maybe it was just a case of jealousy as Moore sold millions of the album and probably made a healthy amount of money?! Others regard him to be someone who took the blues a step further and put it back on the charts again. He made his own tribute to his old heroes by inviting such legendary blues masters as Albert King, Albert Collins on "Still ..." and BB King on "After Hours". On "After Hours" Moore toned down his expression a bit and came up with a more restrained sound, almost fusing a little bit of soul into tracks like "Separate Ways".
Blues has always been apparent in Moore`s soloing even as a hard rock artist and when he`s allowed to expand on it on these CDs it`s obvious what a wonderful guitarist he is, and able to put so much emotions into his playing, he is. He goes from the softest of the soft notes to the fast, furious and blistering passages with such ease. Anyone with an interest in blues and/or guitar playing can`t possible fail to see his greatness when listening through this CD. It`s also great with so many live recordings as Moore is extremely good live, and when caught on his most inspired nights it`s pure magic. No one can make that guitar talk like he does. If you have missed out on Moore`s blues adventures and love top notch guitar playing you just can`t justify not picking this one up.
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